Ciidae

Ciidae
The minute tree-fungus beetles, family Ciidae, are a sizeable group of beetles which inhabit Polyporales bracket fungi or coarse woody debris. Most numerous in warmer regions, they are nonetheless widespread and a considerable number of species occur as far polewards as Scandinavia for example.
Description
As their name implies, minute tree-fungus beetles are tiny, about 0.5 to 5 mm long. Their body is short and cylindrical, often convex, sometimes with a smooth coat of fine short hairs, sometimes being covered in long bristly hairs. They are mostly dark brown or blackish. The short antennae consist of 8–10 segments. The pronotum is wider than long and often forming a quite prominent helmet-like structure. The elytra do not taper noticeably over most of their length. The legs are short, the tibiae of the forelegs often bear characteristic extensions at the ends.
Ecology
These beetles usually inhabit Polyporaceae or more rarely Corticiaceae bracket fungi. The larvae as well as the adults burrow inside the fungi, often choosing old specimens or old tissue. The whole development, from egg to adult, often takes as little as two months; some are parthenogenetic. A few species are pests of commercial fungi, as in the case of Cis chinensis, which infests dried fruiting-bodies of Ganoderma lucidum.
At least one ciid, Falsocis brasiliensis, is a threatened species. It occurs only in small forest remnants of the Northeast and Southeast Regions of Brazil.
Minute tree-fungus beetles are food for many predatory insects, like rove beetles (Staphylinidae), checkered beetles (Cleridae) and parasitoid wasp larvae.
List of genera
Acanthocis Miyatake, 1954
Aliocis Sandoval-Gómez & Lopes-Andrade, 2015
Apterocis Perkins, 1900
Atlantocis Israelson, 1985
Ceracis Mellié, 1849
Cis Latreille, 1796
Cisarthron Reitter, 1885
Dichodontocis Kawanabe, 1994
Dimerapterocis Scott, 1926
Diphyllocis Reitter, 1885
Dolichocis Dury, 1919
Ennearthron Mellié, 1847
Euxestocis Miyatake, 1954
Falsocis Pic, 1916
Grossicis Antunes-Carvalho, Sandoval-Gómez & Lopes-Andrade, 2012
Hadreule Thomson, 1859
Hyalocis Kawanabe, 1993
Lipopterocis Miyatake, 1954
Malacocis Gorham, 1886
Neoapterocis Lopes-Andrade, 2007
Neoennearthron Miyatake, 1954
Nipponapterocis Miyatake, 1954
Nipponocis Nobuchi & Wada, 1955
Octotemnus Mellié, 1847
Odontocis Nakane & Nobuchi, 1955
Orthocis Casey, 1898
Paratrichapus Scott, 1926
Paraxestocis Miyatake, 1954
Phellinocis Lopes-Andrade & Lawrence, 2005
Plesiocis Casey, 1898
Polynesicis Zimmerman, 1938
Porculus Lawrence, 1987
Rhopalodontus Mellié, 1847
Scolytocis Blair, 1928
Sphindocis Fall, 1917
Strigocis Dury, 1917
Sulcacis Dury, 1917
Syncosmetus Sharp, 1891
Tropicis Scott, 1926
Wagaicis Lohse, 1964
Xylographella Miyatake, 1985
Xylographus Mellié, 1847
References
Gumier-Costa, F., Lopes-Andrade, C. & Zacaro, A. A. 2003. Association of Ceracis cornifer (Mellié) (Coleoptera: Ciidae) with the bracket fungi Pycnoporus sanguineus (Basidiomycetes: Polyporaceae). Neotropical Entomology, 32(2): 359–360.
Lawrence, J. F. 1987. A new genus of Ciidae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionoidea) from the Neotropical region. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 31(1): 41–47.
Lawrence, J. F. 1991. Three new Asiatic Ciidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) associated with commercial, dried fungi. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 45: 286–292.
Lawrence, J. F.; Lopes-Andrade, C. 2008. Ciidae Species Listing. Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog, Online
Lopes-Andrade, C. 2007a. Neoapterocis, a new genus of apterous Ciidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) from Chile and Mexico. Zootaxa, 1481: 35–47.
Lopes-Andrade, C. 2007b. Notes on Falsocis Pic (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Ciidae), with the description of an endangered Brazilian species. Zootaxa, 1544: 41–58.
Lopes-Andrade, C. 2008 The first record of Cis chinensis Lawrence from Brazil, with the delimitation of the Cis multidentatus species-group (Coleoptera: Ciidae). Zootaxa, 1755: 35–46.
Lopes-Andrade, C., Gumier-Costa, F. & Sperber, C. F. (2003) Why do male Xylographus contractus Mellié (Coleoptera: Ciidae) present abdominal fovea? Evidence of sexual pheromone secretion. Neotropical Entomology, 32: 217–220.
Lopes-Andrade, C., Gumier-Costa, F., Zacaro, A.A. 2003. Cis leoi, a new species of Ciidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) from the Neotropical Region. Zootaxa, 161: 1–7.
Lopes-Andrade, C., Madureira, M. S., Zacaro, A. A. 2002. Delimitation of the Ceracis singularis group (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Ciidae), with the description of a new Neotropical species. Dugesiana, 9: 59–63.
Lopes-Andrade, C., Zacaro, A. A. 2003a. The first record of Ennearthron Mellié, 1848 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Ciidae) in the Southern Hemisphere, with the description of a distinctive new species. Zootaxa, 395: 1–7.
Lopes-Andrade, C., Zacaro, A. A. 2003b. Xylographus lucasi, a new Brazilian species of Ciidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea). Dugesiana, 10: 1–6.
Lopes-Andrade, C. & Lawrence, J. F. 2005. Phellinocis, a new genus of Neotropical Ciidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea). Zootaxa, 1034: 43–60.
Madenjian, J. J., Eifert, J. D. & Lawrence, J. F. 1993. Ciidae: newly recognized beetle pests of commercial dried mushrooms. Journal of Stored Products Research, 29: 45–48.
Orledge, G. M., Reynolds, S. E. 2005. Fungivore host-use groups from cluster analysis: patterns of utilisation of fungal fruiting bodies by ciid beetles. Ecological Entomology, 30(6): 620–641.
Ruta, R. 2003. Rhopalodontus lawrencei n. sp. – the first Rhopalodontus species in the Oriental Region. Genus, 14(3): 363–369.
Beetle families